World War II was by far the largest war in human history, involving almost all major countries in the world. And the outcome of this war has also had an extremely far-reaching impact on today's global pattern. In fact, even today, we still live under the post-war system of World War II.
The United States also ushered in its own era in this war. For the United States, however, the beginning of World War II was humiliating, cruel and hateful. Pearl Harbor is an eternal pain in the hearts of all Americans, but in the Philippines in the Far EastBut there was an atrocity that was far more brutal than the Pearl Harbor incident.
Adapted by HBO into a TV series of Bloody Pacific).
In 2010, the best-selling author of the United States eB Slaich has released his new work "Blood in the Pacific".The book provides a panoramic picture of the "glorious achievements" of the Japanese army in 1942。It depicts the history of the Japanese army like locusts, which swept through Hong Kong, the Malayan Peninsula, Indonesia, Burma and the Philippines.
And the beginning of this ** is the Philippines. But while telling the historical facts that are well known to the general public, he also mentions an event that is not well known, and one thing that is far more shameful than Pearl Harbor, that is, the Bataan Death March. Although in the story, Bataan's death march is only a few strokesBut in history, it was a tragedy that killed tens of thousands of people.
On December 7, 1942, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, an important hub for the U.S. military in the Pacific. The U.S. military was caught off guard, Pearl Harbor was almost completely destroyed by the Japanese army, and the U.S. military lost the ability to uniformly allocate Pacific resources in a short period of time. This also made the US military units in the Philippines fall into an isolated and helpless situation.
MacArthur) on December 8, 1942, the day after Pearl HarborThe 48th Division, the advance force of the Japanese army, began a large-scale invasion of the Philippines. In fact, if you only look at the data on paper when comparing the forces of Japan and the United States in the Philippines at that time, then the US military undoubtedly has an overall advantage.
Because the U.S. military has a full 130,000 troops in the Philippines, the Japanese landing force is only a few tens of thousands. However, of these 130,000 people, only 350,000 Americans, the rest of whom are in the Philippine military, is a bit of a stretch. What's more, the U.S. military before World War II was generally poorly equipped. To give you an example, the leggings used by the Continental Army in the United States were even produced during World War I.
The Philippine U.S. Army is considered to be relatively well-equipped in the U.S. Army, but the main equipment of the U.S. Army in the Philippines at that time was still a single-shot Springfield rifle, which was far less powerful than the later Serial-Fire Garand rifle. More importantly, the supreme commander of the Philippines at that time was "McArthur".
Soon after the war in the Philippines began, MacArthur started his own "jungle race."fled all the way to the southern Philippines, then got on a plane and ran away to Australia. All of MacArthur's men in the Philippines were abandoned by him, and only a few managed to escape to Dutch Indonesia and Australia.
And MacArthur handed over command of the Philippines to Major General Edward King before he ran awayHe was ordered to lead his troops to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula, which also kicked off the Bataan Death March. At that time, Major General Kim arrived on the Bataan Peninsula with the remaining 80,000 men, and the rest of the troops were either annihilated by the Japanese or fled to Mindanao, the southernmost island of the Philippines, to continue the resistance.
However, when MacArthur gave orders to Major General King, he only took into account the difficult environment of the Bataan Peninsula. But it completely does not take into account the harsh living environment on the Bataan PeninsulaIt's basically a big jungle, and there are no grain producing areas at all.
Major General Edward King).
After arriving here, the U.S. troops quickly ran out of food they had brought with them, and they had to rely on catching snakes and eating wild fruits to survive. The ammunition was quickly depleted because there was no supply. The U.S. forces on the Bataan Peninsula are in a situation where they are running out of ammunition and foodAnd because of the lack of adaptation, one-third of the population is sick.
In this case, the US troops on the Bataan Peninsula have in fact lost the ability to continue to resistSurrender has become an inevitable situation.
In April 1942, Major General Edward King began to negotiate with Lieutenant General Masaharu Honma, commander of the Filipino Japanese Army, about the surrender of the Philippine U.S.-Filipino forces. At that time, Major General Kim's request was very simple, that is, after he led his troops to surrender, Honma Masaharu must ensure that his subordinates can be treated humanelyAt least Americans need to be treated humanely.
Masaharu Honma) did promise Edwarkin at the time that everyone would be treated humanely. Edwardin even took into account that the Japanese might not have carried enough transport to transport the prisoners of warTherefore, the U.S. military specially prepared trucks that were large enough for everyone to transport prisoners of war.
Because there were so many wounded and sick in the U.S. military at that time, many of them were simply incapacitated, so trucks were necessary. And the Japanese army at that time,It was required that all prisoners of war must be brought to the Odonnar prisoner of war camp, 110 kilometers awayPrisoners of war had to walk for three days and nights, and could not be left behind, and those who fell into the wrong place were considered to have escaped.
Edwardkin didn't have much of a problem with that, after all, there were trucks. But what he never expected was that Honma Masaharu was actually lying to him, and Honma Masaharu and Yamashita Fumi, who was behind him, had no intention of letting the prisoners of war use the truck. After the surrender of the U.S.-Filipino forces, the Japanese asked all POWs to walk to their destinations.
American prisoner of war) Edwarkin asked to let the wounded and sick be allowed to ride in the truckBut it was ruthlessly rejected by Masaharu Honma, even the wounded, do not have the right to ride in a truck. And these wounded and sick became the first victims of the Bataan death march, and they themselves were incapacitated and soon fell behind.
The men fell weakly on the side of the road and were shot or stabbed to death by the Japanese soldiers.
These wounded even became a tool for the Japanese army to "train" recruitsThe veterans forced the recruits to use bayonets to stab the wounded, who had completely lost the ability to resist, and the recruits, under the pressure of the veterans, could only do so. Almost none of the wounded and sick at the beginning of the Bataan death march made it to the prisoner of war camp alive.
Yamashita Fengwen) And these prisoners of war who died on the way will not be restrained, and are basically discarded on the side of the road at will. After the bodies of these prisoners of war,Basically, the locals burned or buried them on the spot for fear of causing a plague, the Japanese army did not have half a snack.
In February 1942, Prime Minister Hideki Tojo sent a civilian official named Murata to the Philippines for inspection.
This Murata also once went to the road of the "Bataan Death March", which, of course, was over at that time. But Murata still saw mountains of corpses on both sides of the roadMurata also came up with the idea of asking Masaharu Honma. It was precisely because of Murata's inquiry that the reason for Masaharu Honma's cruel treatment of prisoners of war was introduced.
Bataan Death March).
Masaharu Honma personally admitted that the Japanese army at that time was also a newcomer to the Philippines, and MacArthur was before he ran away, basically did not leave much useful supplies for the Japanese army,Everything from food to medicine had to be brought in from the country. The Japanese army simply did not have the ability to feed so many prisoners of war, let alone so many wounded and sick, and did not have enough medicine.
So the best way is to let them reasonably "lose" on the road of transportation。Therefore, when the Japanese army first besieged the Bataan Peninsula, they did not want to bring trucks over at all.
However, Masaharu Honma also admitted that he did not expect Edwardkin to even prepare the truck himself, which became the "only variable" in the incident.
But that doesn't hurtBecause the Japanese army had 10,000 reasons to "damage" the trucks of the American army.
American prisoners of war) and the remaining prisoners of war, even if they arrive at the prisoner of war camp alive, many of them are afraid that they will fall into a state of psychological and physical near-death because of the torture on the roadAt that time, they will also die "reasonably", and the rest of the people will be easy to deal with.
Generally speaking, journalists from neutral countries, especially those from relatively neutral countries such as Brazil, Switzerland, and Portugal, will always be in the vicinity of prisoner of war camps, as are the various "annoying international organizations".Therefore, the Japanese army could no longer deal with this matter openly in the prisoner of war camps.
But reporters go to war zones relatively rarely, so the road is the best place.
Bataan Death March).
Masaharu Honma also said that even if the prisoners of war arrived at the prisoner of war camp alive, the nightmare would not end.
Because they would be sent to prisoner of war camps all over the Philippines, this time they would be able to take the train, but hundreds of people would be crammed into one carriageThey can only stand in crowds, and after more than ten hours of lack of oxygen, many people will be suffocated to deathThe bodies in the carriage will also be sent directly to the crematorium, and no one will know about it.
When Murata heard these facts, he was shocked, and Masaharu Honma didn't expect itAt this time, there is one more insider, and Murata is that insider. Then, after Japan's surrender, Murata testified before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East against Masaharu Honma.
In addition to Murata, many survivors who had witnessed the Bataan Death March also complained about the crimes of the Japanese army after the war, and their statements allowed us to restore the original appearance of the whole incident.
In addition to the wounded and sick who "fell behind", many American prisoners of war were also dragged out of the queue for no reason, and then brutally beaten or physically punished by the Japanese army. If these people are able to stand up after being beatenThey will then be forced back into the queue to continue their actions.
If these people are incapacitated after being beaten, they will be shot or stabbed to death. No head-to-head or loud noises are also allowed in the queue, and offenders will be shot directly. During the march, the Japanese did not provide any food or water to the prisoners.
Bataan Death March).
All prisoners of war were basically only able to drink from the occasional well, or from a dirty puddle. If the prisoners of war gathered around to drink water, they would even be shot by the Japanese army. The Japanese army's surveillance soldiers are rotated every five kilometers. In fact, according to Honma Masaharu's original plan, the surveillance soldiers would walk with the prisoners of war.
But Edwardin "had trucks ready for the Japanese army,"The Japanese surveillance soldiers were basically in trucks brought by the U.S. military.
The American soldiers who were forced to march were in a row of four and a column of ten. Two hours after the march had just begunThe POWs began to throw away all unnecessary itemsSome people are even left with basic clothing.
American prisoners of war were killed).
During the march, Japanese soldiers would reprimand the POWs in Japanese, and the POWs had to react immediately as they wanted. If the Japanese soldiers did not get the response they wanted, they were beaten with sticks by the Japanese soldiers. So much so that later American prisoners of war were able to understand basic Japanese instructionsOne of the most used is "trot".
Some people fell on the side of the road due to physical exhaustion, but the comrades around them could not help them, because they would be shot directly by the Japanese army. These POWs could only get up on their own, but even then they had to get up quickly. Because of the Japanese army on the sidelines,They will immediately rush up and stab at the prisoners of war, "urging them to stand up".
Some prisoners of war were able to stand up even after being stabbed four or five times with a bayonet. But they often end up dying on the side of the road due to blood loss. And the Japanese army has more "ways to have fun".They sometimes gave the POWs a break with "unprecedented kindness".
Bataan Death March).
But they will hand over a couple of prisoners of war to dig the pit, and after the pit has been dug,They will force the prisoners of war who dig the pit and throw their sick comrades into it,Then fill in the pit. If anyone refuses, they will be shot, and then the Japanese will call out a few more prisoners of war to fill the pit, and by the way, dig another hole.
The wounded and sick were still conscious when they were buried alive, and they screamed loudly, but it was meaningless. When the Japanese army was committing these atrocities,Will stop the Filipino locals passing by and force them with bayonets**.
The locals watched in amazement at these shocking images, prayed silently or wept, and then buried the poor people silently when it was all over.
Bataan March) and even the prisoners of war who arrived at the camps had to be forced to work and were forced to harvest grain entirely by their hands in the "devil's fields". After a long day's work, you can only get a bowl of rice, or a bowl of colored water, which is called "soup". And the prisoners of war laboriously planted and harvested food, which they themselves could barely eat.
And these cruelties will never be forgotten.
U.S. prisoners of war).
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Yang Yi. The Bataan march was a tragic death for the American troops"Torture of prisoners"[j].National Humanities History, 2012